1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to the field of media recovery systems for surface preparation equipment, such as shot blast equipment, and more particularly to an improved magnetic separator to improve the efficiency of separation of abrasive media from molding sand and metallic fines.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Media recovery systems are used to return media, such as shot, grit, sand, and the like, to surface preparation equipment, such as shot blast equipment. A typical recovery system may include a magnetic separator that operates intermittently, resulting in varying amounts of abrasive media flow to the magnetic separator. The inconsistent use of the magnetic separator has posed a problem in its operation. Specifically, the flow of media over a magnetic drum of the magnetic separator can be observed to advance and retreat across a face of the magnetic drum, which can be 60 to 72 inches long. This inconsistent application of media results in uneven burdening of the media on the drum, and less efficient cleaning. Similarly, as the media is conveyed to a lower chamber of the magnetic separator, the media mixture is not fully distributed along a length of the separator. In some cases, the inability to evenly distribute the media can also lead to an unbalanced distribution along the length of the magnetic separator. In some cases, this can also lead to unbalanced distribution of media mixture to a shot wheel by way of an abrasive hopper, which can be designed to depend on an evenly distributed loading of abrasive media along the full length of the separator.